Who does Broad Street Hockey want to win the Cup this season?

Though they are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs at this moment, the Flyers’ odds of a miracle playoff birth sit at just 0.2% according to MoneyPuck.

It’s been a sad, depressing season of hockey, and for our dear Flyers, that season will come to an end shortly, but that doesn’t mean the end of watching hockey, obviously. Not to corner those who do this into the “bandwagon” hockey fan collective, as this describes something completely different, but there are many a fan who in the event of their team missing the playoffs will pick a “playoff team” to support in substitution.

Therefore, with the Flyers out of contention, here at Broad Street Hockey, we pick our playoff teams…

Drew: Toronto

I’m rooting for the Leafs to win the Stanley Cup for one reason and one reason only: Joe Thornton. I desperately want Jumbo Joe to lift the Cup and I think it would be a great storyline for hockey, especially seeing as next year the NHL will enter a huge new TV deal and this can only help grow the game further. Regardless of that, however, I simply like Thornton and want to see him win a Cup. That’s really all there is to it.

Eamon: Nashville

Come on, did you really think the answer was going to be anything different here? The Predators are making another improbable run to the postseason, and while they might miss it by a hair behind the Dallas Stars I refuse to actively root for any teams besides Nashville and Philly to win the Cup. This isn’t a good Preds team, but they’ve certainly been fun over a few stretches this year: Eeli Tolvanen is an electric rookie talent, Juuse Saros is playing Vezina-caliber hockey in goal, and the defense is about as solid as you’d expect. Throw in fun youth like Rem Pitlick (brother of Tyler) and the Bash Bros fourth line of Tanner Jeannot, Yakov Trenin, and Colton Sissons/Matheiu Olivier, and you have a team that’s going to be a pain to play against in the postseason, even if they end up getting crushed in the first round against the Hurricanes.

I just realized the Tim McGraw cutout line had a prime spot for the second big Jeannot hit pic.twitter.com/wchXTfxsYh

— Post-Game Presser Ryan (@ForkingSporks) April 12, 2021

As an aside, Tanner Jeannot rules and while he will likely never be much more than a fourth line guy, he’s an All-Star in my heart forever.

Steve: Avalanche

Perhaps I have a soft spot for those late 90s Forsberg/Sakic/Roy teams. Perhaps I really like watching Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar play hockey. Perhaps I just want to see the one player that Lou Lamoriello had to trade in the offseason hoist that Stanley Cup while the hockey ruining New York Islanders hit the links. There is just something that appeals to me about the Colorado Avalanche. Sure, my real pick is “literally any team not from the **redacted** East division”. I could have picked the Vegas Golden Knights, but I feel like that fanbase just needs to take a few more lumps before experiencing a championship. Call it what you will, but the Avalanche are a good, fun hockey team whose championship would cement that you do not need to run out and get Patrick Maroon to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup. Go Avs go, I suppose!

Steph: Vegas

I’m going to keep picking them every year until they win. If they’re able to get past the Avalanche, I think they have a really strong chance this year.

So, who do you want to win the Stanley Cup this year? We’ve included all of the teams currently in contention, even the ones we all hate:

Who is your playoff team?